Early Miss Rd. 2

This is my second grow and most of what I used in the first grow I'm using in this one as well: Bloomgrow 16"x16"x"48" (it is big enough for one plant with training) Growstar 150W COB LED (draws 63 true watts from the wall) IBionionics 4" Inline fan with speed control and matching carbon filter, bought together as a kit 3 Gallon Fabric pot (I moved up to 3 gallons, from 2, now that the fan and filer are external and not wasting tent space) Pro-mix Premium Potting Soil (which I also used last grow and had good results with - I'm okay with it not being organic) Pro-mix Perlite (a change from last grow was to add 15% extra Perlite which improved drainage) Probably the biggest change from last grow is that I have everything I need this grow, and I discovered on day 1 that I could use my Vivosun shades to take pictures through, which filters out the blue/red from the LED (though I take some of those too). This is something I'm a big fan of, and would have done last grow had I thought to try it. I'll be adding such pics with each weekly update. Whereas my first grow was a little "ad hoc" - owing to information overload - this one should be more scientific. This grow I have all of the nutrients I think I need (there's additions I could make in the future, and will in an eventual future grow). I opted not to go with Advanced Nutrients, General Hydroponics, or Fox Farms as my options for nutrients were limited to what I could find on Amazon Canada. and when I was ready to order nutes the prices were higher than I'm willing to pay. Except for Humbolt's Secret Golden Tree, which I used last grow with good results and will use again in certain weeks, all of the nutes I went with are made by Canadian companies here in Canada - it doesn't make any sense to me to buy American nutrients when we actually produce this stuff here in Canada through many companies. Since, last grow I found the soil delivers a lot on its own, at least in veg and early flower, but especially when paired with kelp, I'm going light on nutrients this grow: not so light that I create a deficiency (not intentionally or through neglect or from lack of experience from a prior grow), but light enough that I hopefully get minimal to no nute burn: that is a big goal. With the filter outside of the tent, I also have higher hopes for this grow and the only thing I plan to add to it that I don't have yet, is a scale so that I can get exact weights to measure any improvement from grow to grow as an estimate only sufficed for the first. I'm open to any training technique, though I got such good results from LST last time that I'll most likely stick with it again, unless there's a reason to do something else at some point. I don't plant to do any 'true' defoliation, just tucking when needed and clipping only as a last resort - and the bare minimum if/when I do. The first 7 days have been pretty uneventful, compared to my first grow. The first time, because I thought my hydrometer defective I didn't use one in the tent (the one in there now arrived around day 22 of the first grow, and since the first wasn't defective, I keep the cheaper one on an end table) and that contributed to some early environment mistakes. You can see the results of my early mistakes in my first grow journal, and much of this week has been spent comparing pics of the first grow to this one, and analyzing the more detailed journal I kept offline to try and identify and avoid those early mistakes. A big one was humidity: the first grow, I thought it lower than it really was for the first 3 weeks until the new hydrometer arrived; I'd thought it to be much lower than it really was, so each week the plant got more humidity than I thought it was receiving and you can see that on the leaf margins which begin to look increasingly mottled/wet/rubbery until about Day 23 when adding kelp and reducing humidity, just as the stretch hit, led to an explosion of healthy growth that wasn't subjected to the high humidity of the first 3 weeks. This grow, with the hydrometer in the tent before the plant even broke ground, the humidity was dialed in from day 0: I started at 70%, but after about 5 days - when the first true serrated leaves began to really come out (after lowering the light which I'd left too high a bit long), began to lower it toward 65% as the target for day 7, which is what is recorded above: plant height on day 7, humidity, etc. A small tweak I picked up was not to run my fan 24/7 as this does stress the plant if its never turned off. This grow, I waited 24 hours before turning it on. Then I ran it only for short spurts: ha;f an hour on, a couple off, no fan at night except the exhaust which runs 24/7. The goal is to increase the frequency and duration of the air and I rotate the pot, as its easier than the alternative (moving the fan). That was a contributor to the mottled appearance of the early leaves in that grow. Future leaves didn't get as much direct air because the canopy was so dense by then. So the idea is to progressively increase the amount of fan air while not running it 24/7. I don't mind the extra bit of intervention. I'm also making it a point to not fuss with the light as much and that is something that isn't captured by the online journal for that grow, though the photos do show some of the bleaching it got from the days where I tried too much light too soon. This grow, I went with a "germination" height and watched the plant to see how it would respond to it. I didn't mind a little stretch, as something the photo doesn't capture is how short the slightly stretched seedling is on day 5, in the photo taken before it began drooping and I brought the light down. Its actual height on day 5 was still under 2" - however stretched it looks. On day 5 I lowered the light from 20" to 17" where the PPFD output of the light is rated to be just higher than the minimum for seedlings. When it responded well to this after 36 hours (leaves in the "praying" position but no cupping, tip curl, or signs of stress or bleaching), I lowered it half an inch and it responded with more "praying." Which is what its doing on day 7, after being "fed" for the first time though the NPK value of what I used is 0-0-0 and its why I chose it for day 7: its nutrients for the soil plus essential vitamins, minerals, fatty acids, amino acids and other bio-stimulants plus kelp and humic acid work especially well together, and there is humic acid present in the soil already as a byproduct of the humus they add to it. Its good for the soil and the plant, though with the 0-0-0 NPK rating there's little risk of nute burn (really no risk in the dose I used). I followed the convention of introducing it at quarter strength, though since the plant isn't big enough for a full watering yet, it got half a feeding: I fed it 20% strength nutes in 750 ml de-chlorinated tap water (ph 6.5), which is 15 ml of Marphyl- one full measuring tablespoon -for this first feeding. When I feed it again, on day 14, it will get another dose of Marphyl but at 50% strength - I don't think using more of it that week will bring additional befits. After week 2, I may not use this again this grow since I'll be using kelp from other sources. I wanted to introduce it once I had a fully established seedling though, on day 7, so it can begin doing its thing on the soil now when its most beneficial for it. Overall a good first week: the plant is healthy and growing well with no environmental or nutrient damage. And I learned from my watering mistakes in the first grow to not repeat them, and there are no signs of over-watering or under-watering, so, so far, so good.

I decided to rewrite and condense this week's notes: Day 8: plant looks healthy but growth has been slow. Day 9: Noticed signs of either Leaf Septoria or WPM on the only leaves the seedling has. Didn't look severe so began treating by watering with 10 ml/L of Hydrogen Peroxide (3%) and added the same ratio from my humidifier. I think now this was the source from day 1, though it took time for it to become sufficiently spread to be visible. Dropped the light half an inch. Day 10: after 36 hours and no sign of light stress, got a little too aggressive and lowered the light another half inch. Also increased the strength of the hydrogen peroxide solution to 20 ml/L. Day 11: kept plant on 20 ml/L of hydrogen peroxide. Fungus seems under control but I'm not certain its dead yet. Also noticed what looked like white powder mildew on on the fabric pot, nut I think that is from the Mycorrhizae in the soil, and not actually WPM. Day 12: Noticed some light stress (cupping and leaf curl) so raised the light half an inch. Plant is 3.5" tall. Maintained hydrogen peroxide treatment. Day 13: some mottling from light stress/mold. I think it is killed: no signs on the newest growth and the third set of leaves are coming out. I got a foliar sprayer today only to have it break before I got to use it (spring in the trigger popped out and disappeared). I raised the light another half inch, which has the light 15.5" above the plant which is about 4" tall with third set of leaves coming out. Day 14. Left the plant to a very light watering for the 48 hours prior to a taste of nutes today, and only the exhaust fan to avoid spreading spores around. Around 8 tonight I finally got a working foliar sprayer and, because its "mist" was pretty thick, pulled it from the tent and misted it in the same bucket I used last grow for feeding (to keep the tent cleaner and because I normally add an extra 20% runoff every feeding, though not this one). Hydyogen Peroxide was 3% in 15 ml/L of de-chlorinated tap water. It soaked the plant enough that after cleaning everything in it, I used a paper towel wick up droplets after giving it an hour to dry off before turning the tent light back on. The first two sets of true leaves bear the brunt of the fungal scars and also some light stress as it also got very light sensitive (I have it backed all the way up to the 20" above canopy I began at and I'll re-evaluate it after its had a day there. Nutes this feeding were very light: 50% of what Marphyl recommends; 25%-50% of what Fearless Gardener Brand recommends for Rocket Fuel's soil schedule (depending on the number you pick); and 50% of what FGB recommends for their Cal Mag. Having seen what the soil can do on its own this early, I'm just looking to give it a little extra NPK and Cal Mag - though not enough, I hope, to get nute burn from. Its been lagging and I'm hoping the taste of nutes spurs it on a bit. All in a all, a rough week for the plant but it seems to be recovering. Next grow, I'll be looking to add in a silica additive early to help it protect itself from these spores (and taking more care not to introduce them.

Day 15: the fungal infection is dead. There is still a WPM like growth/discoloration on part of the stem but I only noticed it late last night, after I'd had the fans running for several hours and I don't think its anything new or alive. The plant was thoroughly soaked the night before, with hydrogen peroxide foliar solution, and left to dry in the dark with disinfected fans blowing and I still wound up using paper towel to wick up the water because some of the droplets were big enough to burn under the LED (I learned this from doing it my first grow). The plant has grown about half an inch in maybe 24 hours. It is healthy growth and it isn't showing any more signs of light stress. Any bleaching will be hard to find as the lowest branches will be scarred, with the biggest ones getting larger, as the plant ages and those leaves get bigger. But I think its doing well now. I saw an odd recommendation to add a very small amount (I have to research further exactly how much) of milk to water for soil grows as, in small amounts (to one weekly watering), it can have provide beneficial enzymes and its andi-fungal but won't harm organic nutes. There are no signs of nute burn anywhere: no burnt tips or discoloration beyond what was there from the WPM or Septoria, whichever it was. Everything seems under control and growth looks back on track. Day 16: I am going forward in reverse right now with the light: after noticing ongoing cupping I began backing it off around midnight and today the cupping is gone, but there is visible bleaching. I got too aggressive too soon when I brought it down and then pushed it to 15" in week 2, before it was ready for that much light. I'll lower it more gradually when it shows signs its ready for more. Also gave it another foliar spray for fungus, but switched to a mixture of 1 tablespoon/gallon of pure baking soda mixed with a few drops of Palmolive dish liquid to emulsify it. Did it with the light out so there'd be no burn. This may be the only time I use this as I don't want a salt buildup in the soil. Also decided to start LST today. Day 17: Added another layer of LST. With the results I'm getting from LST already, I'll likely only do some defoliation later (much later) and mostly tuck, only strategically pruning when the time comes that I feel I have to. I may also super-crop at some point, just to try a new plant training technique, though that's about only training/pruning I'm considering. I don't think I'm going to learn how to top or FIM this grow; I'm thinking I'll try that in a future grow where I can try one on one plant and the other or just LST on a second (when I eventually expand to a bigger tent). For nutes this week, I'm looking at trying Bud Juice Grow in half the strength they recommend. They recommend it in week 3 for autos. Its a little bit of N and a lot of P, something like 2-14-0. Its an organic dressing with bone meal and some other nasty sounding stuff in it. Since it has the same N as Cal Mag, I would skip Cal Mag this week and add half strength Rocket Fuel (1 ml/L) which is 3-1-1 and Humbolt's Secret Golden Tree at half veg strength, which is 0-0-2 and its kelp so I don't need to add Marphyl this week either. I may add milk to the nutes but it'll either be in the nutes or separately a day or two before as a foliar spray only. Whichever I do, it would also only be every 14 days and no more than maybe three feedings of it. I haven't really decided on this part, though milk is supposed to provide several benefits: vitamins and minerals; immune system boost; anti-fungal properties; provides carbs to the soil for microbes to feed on same as molasses does (which it can be combined with though I won't be trying both this grow). I'm already sold on the benefits, I just haven't decided which way to provide it yet - as foliar or mixed in with the nutes. Day 18: I'm still adjusting the LST. I'm really leaning toward super-cropping the side branches as they become mature enough (within 2 weeks at the most), doing them one at a time as each gets tall enough. With that and LST on the main stalk, I think I can grow it very flat and wide so that I don't need to do too much defoliation later. Training the plant is my second favorite part of growing; second only to harvest. Day 19: Trying the light at 16" again. That's the height I began at on Day 5, so it should be okay, I just need to lower it more slowly. Day 21 is too soon for Bud Juice Grow and all of the P in it, so I'm going to postpone adding that until next week and on day 21 repeat the Cal Mag, and Rocket Fuel (but maybe higher strength) and add in Humbolt's Secret at veg strength. Day 20: Moved the light back up to 18" after observing light stress. Also sprayed the plant in the dark with a milk solution (1 part milk, 4 parts water). Also noticed signs that one of the lowest leaves, one from the first true pair, is dying after getting dipped in the soil: the nutes ate through it over night. I'm trying to save it for now, but if the plant cannibalizes it then I'll cut it away next week. Day 21. Fed the plant. The newest growth is healthy but the old growth is damaged from the fungus infection, light burn, and splash damage from watering, The nutes were chosen after doing more research on P and finding growers discouraging against using too much while in veg - so day 21 is too soon for Bud Juice Grow with all the P it contains. (2-14-0). Rocket Fuel is an organic nute (salmon and seaweed) that is more suited for veg and they advertise it based on its versatility: it can be used as an "All in one" nutrient(NPK is 3-1-1) in doses of 10-20 ml/L; as a supplement to 'an existing feeding program' in 1-5 ml/L strength, or with their nutes and then they specify 2 ml/L in soil. Since Rocket Fuel is the base nute this week, I went with 5 ml/L plus what they specify for Cal Mag and what Humbolt's spec's for Golden Tree. The end mix is close to 3-1-1 NPK and shouldn't be too strong for week 3 in soil. In week 4, I'm going to add Bud Juice Grow once as dressing (3 tablespoons), skip the Cal Mag since its in Bud Juice Grow, decrease the Rocket Fuel to what they recommend in soil with their nutes (2 ml/L), and if there are pre-flowers by then as I expect to see, Humbolt's at 50% flowering strength (2.5 ml/L). This should keep it simple but be adequate. The big lesson this week was that if/when I grow in a 3 gallon pot, I'm going to start in a cup and transplant around week 3. Even though it is possible to grow direct from seed even in a 3 gallon, it posed more challenges that weren't there when growing in a 2 gallon. I also need a real watering bottle as that would address other problems.

Day 22: removed two leaves, 12 hours apart, with angled cuts using pruning trimmers. Last grow I used my fingers to do this, until my nail caught bark and tore a strip of that off as well. After that I switched to pruning trimmers. which I'm using this time as well. The two leaves removed were from the first two pairs of true leaves to emerge, and which were most heavily damaged by the fungus and which were also sitting lowest in the pot. One had its tip dipped in soil when I was doing LST and that last bit of damage plus getting blocked by other leaves was enough to kill it, so I just clipped the husk. The other leaf wasn't as badly damaged and wasn't dead, but it wasn't getting light anymore so I preemptively removed it 12 hours after taking off the first leaf. Day 23: all of the remaining leaves seem okay. The oldest are spotted/disfigured but still healthy enough and able to get enough light. The new growth is a very rich green, so if there's no nute burn or signs of toxicity, I'll consider them "dialed in" for this week and maybe up the Rocket Fuel next time in week 2 from .5 to 1 ml/L. I'm hoping to have a potassium silica additive by that grow for the first few weeks to harden the plant against infections, though I don't think I'll need to repeat a foliar spray and the newer growth is also less disfigured. Next grow I'm disinfecting my humidifier before it goes in the tent - I missed that this grow and its the root of the problems there, though I think the plant recovered soon enough that it may not hurt final yield too much. If I do another 3 gallon pot grow, I'm going to start it in a solo cup then transplant whenever its time to add Bud Juice Grow (which will be 28 this grow as this plant is lagging my last grow by a few days - it may eventually catch up though). Day 24: plant grew about an inch overnight. Added more LST to the new growth. There are several side leaves I've been "cultivating" by using LST to feed them more hormones and light, and they'll soon be tall enough to begin super-cropping (my planned novelty for this grow is to try supper cropping my side branches instead of lolli-popping them like I did last grow, once they're tall enough). Day 25: plant grew another half inch over night. I removed a dying fan leaf that was the last of the first two true leaves, a second low side leaf that was too low to reach the light, and snipped away some dead growth from one of the oldest surviving fan leaves. Its taking more time to veg compared to my previous grow, but some of that may be because I'm growing in a 3 gallon pot this time instead of a 2 gallon. Day 26: the only thing to do today is re-adjust LST. I think the plant is spending more time in veg, compared to last grow, because of the larger pot size: 3 vs 2 gallon. It may well wind up veg'ing for the full 28 days this week and even some of next week. Therefore, I'm going to hold off bloom nutes like Bud Juice Grow this week and all of the phosphorous in it, but instead basically repeat what I fed last week but drop the Cal Mag to 0.5 ml/L. That will be on day 28. It grew another half inch over night and is 8" tall now. Also clipped off the last of the 4 original fan leaves that still remained (the leaf is dry and feels like it is beginning to die). Day 27: gradually reduced the light until it hit 14" above canopy, which seems to be the sweet spot right now. Also did more LST to make room for side branches I plan to super crop within a few days. And the plant is showing pre-flowers so I'm going to start Bud Juice Grow tomorrow and taper the Rocket fuel down to supplement strength (2 ml/L). The first feeding of Bud Juice Bloom will be three weeks from tomorrow. Day 28 Fed the plant and pruned another old fan leaf that was no longer getting much light. Substituted Marphyl (50% strength) for Cal Mag this week and went with 3 tablespoons .of Bud Juice, a supplement ratio of Rocket Fuel (2ml/L), and 50% strength Humbolt's Golden Tree for veg (2.5 ml/gal). Also began HST today (super cropping) on three stems to begin on. Also lowered the light another inch. Measured plant height is 9".

Day 29: Did more super-cropping, adjusted LST, and flipped to an 18/6 light cycle to lower heat. I have everything super-cropped except fan leaves and the main stalk. I've broken atypical dominance I think and that new "top" is super-cropped so it'll be interesting to weight it at the end and compare it to the main cola. My plan here is to just LST the main cola as I've been doing since week 3, and super-crop everything else (except fan leaves) while keeping defoliation to a minimum, and finishing both 7 days after pre-flowers appeared so that it has the final week of stretch to fully make the most out of. After that I'll switch to LST on the super-cropped sites as well. Day 30. Decided to super crop the main cola. Did a second round on some stems and super cropped all bud bearing stems I hadn't yet done, and LST'd the super-cropped branches. With the plant healthy and not suffering any stress, this may be a good baseline grow to see what this strain can yield under my 150W LED in a 3 gallon pot when fully LST'd and HST'd, but without FIM'ing or topping; next grow, I may try up to 4 plants in 1 gallon pots, though ideally under a stronger light (a 600W may be in the works for next grow) and I might try topping 2 and FIM'ing 2, and super-cropping all 4 if it yields good results this grow. Though I like HST and had no trouble with it so far (haven't had to tape a stem yet), so its already exceeded my expectations as I wasn't sure I'd be too fussy about it, but I enjoy it: it gives excellent control for plant training, which in itself may mean less defoliation is needed (I'm only taking off what I need to this grow, which has been very little so far and none so far this week). Day 31: More LST and HST. There is some P burn on a couple leaves, though its very minor and I think likely related to the temps the first day I watered them after feeding them: I watered them in the morning, but lunchtime it was already 28C where it stayed, and I noticed the P burn becoming more noticeable throughout the day. I think the reason is that when it was taking up water in 28C heat it would have taken up more nutes with the water then it would have otherwise, and the extra nute uptake created the nute burn. It is minor and there is not much to be done for it as the affected leaves its showing on are still healthy, and a nute burn can't be undone and I didn't expect that hot a day this early in the year (today, outside its back to the teens that the weather's been all month, except yesterday). I won't defoliate something just for cosmetic reasons, though if the affected eaves block bud sites or become unhealthy, I'll clip them off. Measured plant height is 11". Also lowered the light half an inch. On another note, also wondering now what timeline I'm looking at. Its definitely not going to be the 7 weeks CKS advertises, but this grow I knew that much going in. I don't think it'll necessarily be the 14 week, 90+ day grow that last round was, but maybe something closer to 11-13 weeks which I think is more likely (6-8 weeks of flower until harvest). It'll be interesting to see. I'm hoping for 12 weeks to harvest. Day 32: did some very light defoliation and HST on a few more stems. The plant has responded well to the nutes and to training so I have high hopes for this grow. Day 33: Minimal HST and more LST. Its been a week today since pre-flowering began, so today is also the last day for HST techniques and after today it'll be mainly LST, while I can, with light defoliation only as necessary (I have no plans to lolipop this grow). As a means to try and lower heat, I've begun a rotation of using a 32 oz Mason jar with water frozen the night before from the freezer, in the tent below the fan. The jar is sealed so it doesn't increase humidity, but it will lower (slightly) the temp inside the small tent, especially when the light is out (which increases the temperature difference between "day" and "night" and if its greater than 6 degrees, which I couldn't do otherwise in the summer since I don't have AC, it can boost terpenes etc during flowering. I'm not expecting a big change, but any change is good, and I'm using two in rotation and swapping them before bed and after I get up in the morning, beginning this morning (I froze the jar overnight last night and put it in the tent just before its "night" began). Day 34: Today was a day of mishaps. While adjusting the LST ties, I pulled too hard on the main stem I HST'd the day before and snapped it off; not entirely, so I tried grafting but within 8 hours everything above the beak was severely wilted, so I made the best of it (hindsight is 20/20 and I would handle it a bit different next time) and topped at just below the snap point so that the cut would be clean. I also noticed a couple of the branches I'd HST'd the day before had slightly broken through the skin as well, so I grafted them and both seem fine (they weren't snapped through, simply ruptured slightly). This is unplanned topping and later than usual, but why not? This plant has been a trooper so far. It'll be interesting to see the rest of the stretch play out. Day 35: some new plant mutes arrived today: Fearless Garden Brand Carbon Overload and 3 free sample bonuses: 60 ml Rock Fuel (I got a bonus of this with my first order I've been using throughout this grow), Sticky Icky (a concentrated molasses extract), and HD Bloom (a concenentrated PK booster that I'll try next grow). The two I'm going to try this grow, besides the one I already have, arrived after I'd already fed the plant today so I'll introduce them in week 6, except for HD Bloom which I'll try next grow in a different setup (4 plants in 1 gallon pots under a screen). Besides feeding the plant, I did some minor LST and dropped the light half an inch. Despite, or maybe because of, the accidental topping the day before, another cola sprouted about half an inch above the canopy overnight so I evened that out today.

Day 36: Just some LST and, since the plant grew half an inch over night, I lowered the light half an inch as well. Day 37: More LST. More overnight growth and another half inch of vertical growth. The new distance to canopy is already only 8.5" so, for now at least, I'm going to need to check the distance daily and back the light off half an inch when it gets to within 8", as I don't want it any closer this early in flower. After lowering it to 7" last grow, it seemed almost like it was burning terpenes/THC off as its rated for 1275 umol/s at 6" which is too much without supplemental CO2 that I don't use. But at 9", growth simply stalled so the sweet spot seems to be in the 7.5"-8.5", and limiting it to 8" distance means it shouldn't grow more than half an inch in 24 hours, even in the stretch, and therefore this will keep it within the "sweet spot." This is a useful tool that uses the inverse square law for you to calculate light energy if you know its rated intensity at any fixed distance; it asks for light intensity in lumens, but it doesn't matter what value you use as the inverse square law applies to light measured and given in ppfd instead (more useful when using an LED): https://www.easycalculation.com/physics/classical-physics/inverse-square-law.php Also super-cropped two side branches to control their height and direction of growth